This article about Princess Diana’s casual style and how it’s making her an icon beyond the evening gowns and tiaras that usually come to mind at the mention of her name is fascinating for anyone who enjoys fashion and royal information. I’ve been a steadfast admirer of Diana, Princess of Wales from the moment I saw the first photograph of her in People magazine. Through all the outward appearances of her Fairytale life, the heartbreaking revelations of her reality, the tragedy of her death, and her enduring emergence as an icon, I’ve been impressed beyond belief that one fragile, yet incredibly strong human being could put on such a face of beauty and almost always grace.

I tried my best to emulate her style. The thing is that she had a classic beauty and inborn elegance that lent itself to looking amazing in just about any outfit she presented in private and public. Such a personal style can be studied, adopted, and adapted by almost anyone, who will emerge from their closet looking better than they ever did before she entered the public sphere.

Because of Princess Diana, my Anglophile heart learned a lot more about fashion than I ever expected to know. I know who John Boyd, Catherine Walker, and the Emmanuels are. There was a time when I was an American Sloan Ranger wannabee, which left me with a craving for Laura Ashley anything, an admiration for Liberty Prints, and a serious Benneton addiction. I even learned her ballerina stance, which really does help when standing for any length of time.

Though I ditched the polka dot socks, piecrust and ruffles (for now, at least), and the urge to wear stadium pumps I don’t even like, some remaining staples of my wardrobe include a white wing collar shirt for layering, ballerina flats, and classic leather clutches that defy generations, decades, and veritable pursestrings under the right sale circumstances. I swear, I would wear the little black satin hat that boasts matching black netting trim and looks a bit like a Victorian riding hat that I managed to find for my collection, if only hats were in style here across the pond. Alas, I don’t want to be accused of Trick-or-Treating out of season, so that bit of Princess Diana inspired finery must languish in its stored away glory

My unexpected style awareness and the pleasure it gives me is completely owing to the princess who ruled the world in so many ways that are more about individuality, compassion, and strength than crowns and curtseys. She made the world a different place by being in it. If only she could have lingered longer.

Feeling sad today, on the anniversary of Princess Diana’s death. Why do the people with the most to offer the world die so young?

The easy answer in this case could be one word–papparazzi. But it’s much more complex than that, and I don’t think speculation does anyone any good. So I’ll just take it back to the simple point that she did a great deal of good, and could have accomplished unimagined things in the long life we all thought she had ahead of her.

She was a pervasive influence on my life. I admired her compassion, her beauty, and the way she reminded the rest of us that life wasn’t always perfection, even for a fairytale princess. I learned a lot about fashion, style, carriage, and perseverance from my interest in her life.

There was a patina about the now eternally young woman of a sort of bruised grace. The kind that is hardwon and often not recognized fully by the person wearing it. Of course she made mistakes. Who among us does not under much less pressure and pain?

The life of Princess Diana often sparkled so that it made us point and look in awe, only able to imagine such an existence. Sometimes it faltered, making us just a little grateful that it was someone on a diffferent, lofty plain who must experience such travails. Especially in the public eye. And we were glad, whether we admitted it or not, to see that there really weren’t so many fundamental differences between us when it came to pain and tragedy and loss.

That was the greatest gift she had for us all, I think. She was able to level the field until on many occasions she behaved as just Diana, the pretty little girl who grew up to be the incongruently dazzling princess of tragedy.